Leaders of an autonomy movement met in the small town of Ajdabiya to launch the government [File: Al Jazeera]
Eastern Libya has declared an autonomous regional
government with an official ceremony, challenging the country's weak
central government that failed to assume unifying power over rebels and
various tribes since the 2011 war toppled Muammar Gaddafi.
Leaders of an autonomy movement met on Sunday in the small town of
Ajdabiya to launch the government under the name of Barqa, or Cyrenaica
as it is also known, supporters said.
A pro-federalist television station showed more than 20 ministers taking the oath at a podium decorated with a Cyrenaica flag.
They were joined by the tribal leader Ibrahim Jathran, the former
head of Libya's Petroleum Protection Force in charge of guarding oil
facilities, who defected in the summer and seized the biggest ports Ras
Lanuf and Es-Sider with his troops.
Jathran was standing next to the self-declared Prime Minister Abd-Rabbo al-Barassi, a defected air force commander.
Symbolic blow
The announcement is a symbolic blow to efforts by the Tripoli
government to reopen eastern oil ports and fields blocked since summer
by rebels and tribes demanding a greater share of power and oil wealth.
It has no practical meaning, but is sure to worsen ties between the east and Tripoli, which has rejected the self-rule notion.
Officials were not immediately available for comment.
Lawlessness has blighted large areas of the OPEC producer since
ousting Gaddafi in 2011. The government has been unable to rein in rebel
groups and armed tribes.
Prime Minister Ali Zeidan had been seeking contact with the east in
the past few days trying to reopen blocked oil ports in an area home to
60 percent of the country's oil production.
The protesters and strikes at ports and oil fields have knocked down
crude production to some 10 percent of Libya's capacity of 1.25 million
barrels a day.
The North African country used to pump 1.4 million bpd until the strikes started.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
